Original Black
by Adako Wolfe
Summary: Altessa is not normal. She does not wish to be normal. She wants to do what she is most capable of without being restricted, and that is manipulate the weather. Chap 4!
1. Lazy Black

Black, black, black. It was not normal, and that was her goal. She didn't want to be normal. She wanted to be original. Yet she feared that that was common. Everyone wanted to be original. But everyone was original to some extent, right? So she was her own original. No one was like her. No one _could_ be like her. Impossible.

Altessa looked in the mirror. Black hair. Black lips. Black nails. Black gloves. Black shirt, black pants, black boots. Black collar, and black lip ring. It was the only piece of jewelery she had. Nothing else was pierced, not even her ears. It was her eyes that bothered her. As much as she tried to hide them, she couldn't, at least not when she was home. Her eyes were surrounded in black, shadow and liner, but her irises were a vivid safire blue. In a moment, that would be a lie.

She took out a black case from her top drawer and opened it, dipping her finger inside and coming back with a purple lense, so dark it seemed black to an eye that wasn't really paying attention. Who payed attention? She did. She payed attention to everything. Like her apartment.

Everything in her apartment was immaculate. Spotless. Not a molecule of dust could be found anywhere. You could say the same for sunlight. Her place had never seen the light of day with her inside. Heavy, dark blankets hung where the windows should have been. Not a single shaft of light was allowed to enter. She had had her carpet redone to black. The walls were white, and that was it. The couch was deep purple, the coffee table was clear glass, as was the end table and the entertainment center. Posters hung everywhere, pictures of black panters snarling at the looker, a dragon and a tiger circling the yin-yang, a red dragon, a 3D of a snake hissing at you.

That one was in the bathroom. Tess looked at it with her new eyes, appreciative, feeling she would do the same if she possessed fangs. People were irratating. Yet, other people probably thought she was irratating, so she couldn't be too hard on them.

Back in the mirror. Her eyes now matched her persona. Like said before, it was a lie. Everything was a lie. She felt alot in common with the characters in the matrix, how everything didn't really exist, it was all just a faux of the people really in charge. Like her.

She was boss. Everyone should look up to her, but instead, what did they do? Hunt her down like a rabid dog. Set hounds after her like she was a fox with a beautiful red pelt. Put hooks out like she was some rare fish in the ocean. Which wasn't true. But she was rare. She was a one and only, and that brought her back to being original. She was original. How could she not be? She was the only one of her. No one else could do what she could. She thought back to last night.

_It had been a clear night, not a puff of cloud, the stars shining brightly in the blackened sky. The smells of the ocean wafted up to the sixteenth and top floor of one of the lower sky scrapers in the city of seattle, in washington. The thoughtful pair lay side by side on the roof top, watching for falling stars._

_"What is your favorite thing, Alec?"_

_"My favorite thing? To spend time with you."_

_"Other than that?"_

_He lay quiet for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his handsome face. "To be in the rain."_

_"Do you beleive in magic, Alec?" Tessa had asked._

_He laughed softly. "I really don't know."_

_"Hold my hand and wish for rain."_

_He looked at her and smiled, a gentle smile that warmed her insides. He squeezed her hand with his and shut his eyes._

_"Are you wishing?" She asked._

_"I am."_

_Tessa closed her eyes and listened. She heard the thunder in her head, felt the rain drops falling on her skin. She saw the clouds forming in the sky, not an oppressive storm, just a gentle rain shower._

_Thunder rolled in the distance. Alec turned to her with wide eyes. "Tessa!"_

_"You wished, didn't you?"_

_"Well yes, but-"_

_"No buts." She cut him off. "Just listen and watch."_

_The clouds formed in the sky just as they had in her minds eye, the thunder softly sounding, then the patter of drops on the ground and on them. _

_Mascara, liner and shadow ran down her pale face, but she didn't care. She turned to Alec, who was studying her. He smiled, drawing her nearer to him. Their lips met briefly, and Alec smoothed the dark lines from her face._

Not everyone had been happy with that, she knew, but it was what she needed at the moment and if she could provide what she needed, why not? She could lose alot if she did that again, but she was willing to risk it. What was life if you didn't take

risks? To her, it was nothing. _Nothing._

But she could change that if she wanted to. Get out of the damn contract she had accepted, and it would all be lickety split. Damned thing had her bound, she couldn't hardly move without a warning.

The molecules in the air grew denser for a split second, causing a wave. It rushed at her, and she turned to face it, receiving the message that would only come with such a stirring. She went to her door and squatted to the side, waiting. Sure enough, a letter came toppling through the letter deposit in her door. Without even reading it she knew who it was from. Damn people wouldn't give in a millimeter when it came to things like this.

She ripped it open and read the contents. Whew, they were angry! It was no formal letter this time. It was an outright warning.

_Altessa,_

_What the hell are you thinking? Do you know what you could mess up if you keep doing this? I know I've gone through it enough times with you but you need to think! You are not the only person on earth. You cannot go around manipulating the weather at will! Please try to remember this in the future. People out there are more then willing to exterminate you without the slightest regret, and you know that. As your friend, I regret to inform you that if there is one more incident of this they are going to take you into custody, and I don't think you will ever come out again if they get ahold of you. If you think you need to do what you are so good at, please relocate at once and let me know. Thank you._

Crap, they were getting serious. Relocate? Hell no! But was she willing to put her gift away forever? Hell no! That was like asking a fish to live on dry land. Like asking a dog to live in an aquarium. Like a man living on the moon. It was impossible! Yet, The contract provided her with a great many things, like her apartment.

It wasn't an apartment, really. It was a huge suite. Not that she needed that much room for herself, but she could sense things, and she would always be sensing things if other people were too close. Long term close quarters with anyone was not a good thing. At all.

She went into her bedroom and lay down, abandoning her thoughts for the days activities. Reaching behind her dresser, she switched on her glitter lamp, watching the sparkles twirl up and shimmer as the light struck them at various angles. Maybe today she would accomplish nothing.

**Should I keep going? Please let me know, otherwise this fic is finished.**


	2. Gothic Girl

The day slipped by. Altessa alternated between sleeping, reading and pacing. She ate little, for she was contemplating. Should she leave? Or should she not? What about Alec?

Altessa stopped pacing in front of a full length mirror hanging on her door. Gothic. Everyone considered her gothic. But she didn't. She didn't because there were so many pathetic excuses running around as goths these days. All wanna be's.

Tess glanced at the clock and made her way to the door. She had another meeting with Alec. A smile spread on her lips but a frown chased it away. She would make it rain if she wanted to! She would show them she could make it on her own. Why couldn't she? She turned away from the door and reached for her phone, dialing Alec's cell.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" He greeted her.

"Alec. Meet me in my apartment at our time, ok?"

"No problem."

Dial tone indicated he had hung up. What should she bring? Only necessities. She would re-accessorize when she got to where she was going. Where would that be? Or then again, maybe she didn't want to leave. She argued with herself for a bit then decided to wait until Alec got there to decide. She would tell him only as much as necessary, just that someone was after her or something...Maybe. She'd think of something.

A thought pierced her mind. Why not go the spot she always got inspiration? She pushed redial on her phone.

"I'm on my way," Alec answered.

"No, Alec, meet me at the trinity church downtown."

"Tess, are you ok? You don't go to church."

"Yes. I've just never told you about it. Meet me there, ok?"

"Ok." He sounded confused.

Altessa hung up her phone and locked her apartment door, sliding into her black camero and making her way through the hilly streets of seattle. When she reached her destination, she just sat in her car for a moment just admiring it, until it started to rain.

Slowly, she made her way inside. It was a gothic church, tall pillars and high arches accenting the grayish brown stone it was built with. By the time she had gotten up the steps she was sopping wet, but she didn't care. What she did involved being wet. Swinging open the heavy door, she stepped inside and immediately her attention was drawn _up_, to the ceiling. She smiled. That was the way it was meant to be.

Tess lay down on the cold floor, just staring at the beautiful pictures portrayed above her. Colors of all varieties and pictures of all sorts tickled her eyes, as she lay on her back in middle of the floor of that great church. **(A/N This is a real church in seattle)**

The big door swung open and the cautious face of Alec peered in.

"Come inside, Alec." She called, her voice echoing softly. He walked to her side.

"Why the hell are you laying spread eagle on the floor of a church?"

"Not just any church."

"Right. Same question."

"Don't you feel inspired by all this?"

"Inspired to do what?"

"Keep on living. You know, this gets you thinking that maybe there is someone upstairs, maybe someone who cares when no one else does."

He knelt down, leaning over her and smoothing her hair. A wave in the otherwise still air in the church brushed her senses.

"Don't move." She whispered to Alec. "We're not alone."

His eyes left hers, sweeping the church. She brought his attention back to her. "I said don't, not do."

"It's probably just a priest or something."

"There's no priests here, Alec. There never is."

Another wave grated her nerves. "Look straight in front of you Alec, to my left. Make it look inconspicuous." He did, making it look like he was stretching. Tess noticed him stiffen. He saw something. He looked her in the eye.

"I just caught a glance before they slipped behind a pillar but they were carrying some kind of shield and a huge gun! What the fuck aren't you telling me about, Altessa?"

"No time, Alec. Too much. Stand up slowly, ok?" He did and she sat up, opening her mouth wide. "Show yourselves, you fucking idiots!"

Alec covered his face with his hands, hiding a grimace. About ten special ops stepped out into the open from behind various pillars surrounding them, holding their shields in front of them as if to hide from the devil himself. Ten different red laser beams aimed at various kill spots on their bodies.

"Holy shit!" Alec muttered, his hands in the air.

One of the ops flashed a badge over his shield and spoke. "Altessa Blake and Alec Jensen?"

"Who the fuck are they?" Tess yelled.

"What are you doing, Tess? Are you out of your mind?" Alec hissed.

"Believe it or not, we stand a good chance." She stated blatantly.

"It was not supposed to rain today, Miss Blake." The speaker op said.

"Is that what this is about? I didn't do it this time, honest!"

"Will you come away with us peacefully?"

"Hell no!"

Something hissed through the air and embedded iteslf in Tess's lower thigh. "Ow!" She shrieked, her voice bouncing from wall to wall. There was a dart sticking in her leg.

"What the fuck?" Alec yelled, flipping off the ops and reaching to pull the dart out of her leg.

"You move it, and she gets another one and you do too."

"What is this shit?" Tess asked through clenched teeth, clutching her leg and rocking back an forth.

"Just a knockout. It will take a couple minutes."

Alec pulled Tessa's frightened gaze to his. "I don't care what you did, Tess. I'm with you." He brushed his lips across hers, earning a snicker from the ops. The speaker cleared his throat.

"Mr. Jensen, please return to your home. We will summon you if you are needed."

Tess was breathing heavily. "Lay down, Alec."

"Feeling ok, Tess?"

"Just do it!"

"Ok."

Tess closed her eyes. In her minds eye she saw the ops as they were, not able to move. The air molecules were growing more dense, so dense it was as if gravity had gotten ten times stronger. She opened her eyes. It was starting to happen.

"What the fuck?" Different exclamations came from different ops. Some tried to raise their guns to shoot, only to find that they could hardly lift their arms, let alone their guns. Their eyes threatened to close.

Tess smiled, unable to speak. Black dots began to dance in front of her eyes. It was as if fairies were coming to bid her goodnight, farewell and happy times. They got bigger and bigger until she could see nothing. "Alec?" she called, her voice trembling. He squeezed her hand in reply.

Alec felt Tess's grip go limp, and the heaviness in the air lifted. Audible sighs of relief were everywhere. Alec rose and picked up Tess's limp form. "What did you put in that dart?" he yelled.

"It's none of your business, Mr. Jensen. Go home."

"None of my business? What's her business is mine!"

"Put the girl down, Alec. We will shoot."

"No!"

Another dart hissed through the air, catching him in the same spot it had Tess.

"Ah! Fuck you all!" He put Tess down so he wouldn't drop her when he passed out.

Next thing he knew he was lying in his bed. Jeez, that was a scary dream. So real, too. He rubbed his eyes and looked around his room. Nothing was different. He picked up his phone and dialed Tessa's number. It rang and rang until finally her anwering machine picked up.

_You've reached the number you have dialed, so say what you wanna say or try again later. I'll see what I can do about getting back with you._

He hung up. He reached back and rubbed his tense neck, noticing all his muscles were wound up.

_Must be coming down with the flu,_ he thought. _Why the fuck did I go to bed in all my clothes?_ He shook his head. This was some hangover. Jeez, he didn't even remember what day it was. Just that stupid dream. _Fuck it._ He smiled, thinking back to the time that Tess had asked him about his language.

_Is fuck your favorite word? You say it in almost every sentence._

She hardly said anything worse than shit back then. He brushed away the memory and sat on the end of his bed and switched on the TV, resting his chin on his hand and his elbow on his leg. A quick pain made him roll up his shorts to investigate. _What the fuck? _There was a black and blue spot with a little red dot in the middle. His eyes widened. _Shit!_

Altessa and he lived in the same building, only she lived about eight floors above him, where the master suites were. Alec grabbed a jacket, which had been deposited on he floor beside his bed. He ran out the door but backtracked when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror on his way out. The liner around his eyes was smudged all over his face and there were huge circles under his eyes. His hair was flat on one side and stuck straight out on the other. He was a site for sore eyes. He remembered when Tess had first seen him. She had thought he was Billie Joe Armstrong from Greenday.

_The mall was crowded that day, and everyone was turning their heads his way. He heard hushed whispers about him being Billie Joe Armstrong and such, but he paid no heed and walked on out. A few people had tried to approach him but he had been quick to let them know he was_ not_ Billie Joe Armstrong, telling them in no uncertain terms. The had quickly backed off, thier faces red._

_As he walked out of the mall, he stopped to breathe in the cool air and to savor the feeling of being alone, no one staring at him and gawking. Suddenly there was a gothic girl standing in front of him, holding her hand out. She was different, he knew that from the beginning, as she stood there in her morbid beauty. He took her hand._

_"I'm Tess," she had said. _

_"I'm Alec." She grinned and pulled her hand out of his grip. "People think you're someone your not, huh?"_

_He let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah."_

_"It's your fault, you know." His eyebrows furrowed. "You lead them to think you are him by dressing like him! If you don't like it, why do you do it?"_

_"Well...I used to like it, I guess."_

_They had smiled and she had linked her arm with his, leading him to her car and handing him a little peice of paper with her number on it. "Only if you want to." She grinned lopsidedly and climbed into her car, revving the engine and speeding down the road. He had fallen head over heels for her._

Jerking his mind out of the past, he made himself look presentable and he rushed out the door, thinking all the way up the stairs. He took the stairs because he could climb them faster than the elevator took to go up eight floors._ Why do they want Tess? So what she can do wierd things. It shouldn't harm anybody. I don't care what she does._


	3. Dark Tears

Jeez, this bed seemed to have gotten alot harder since the last time she had slept on it. Altessa grimaced. She had the most aweful headache she'd had in a while. Hangover, maybe? Trying to get more comfortable, she tried to roll over. Dang, she must be all tangled up in the sheets. Finally forcing herself to open her eyes, she blinked, trying the get the sandy feel to disappear. Finally her vision cleared, and a hopeless feeling struck her. Above her were florescent lights, stainless steel and something right above her eyes, making her blink in rapid succession. Convinced it wouldn't touch her eyes, she stared at it, an ache developing in the back of her eyes because it was so close. It looked like a lense that you would see on a CD or DVD player. There were metal bands holding her legs, hands, and head in place. One over her neck and one over her forehead. This was insane. What the fuck was going on? Judging by position, her gloves were gone, her collar was gone, and her feet were bare. Her makeup was probably all over her face. Her lip ring was missing also. She rolled her eyes to right and left and turned her head as far as her restraints would let her to check out her surroundings.

Slowly but surely her memories leaked back into her mind, startling her. The ops had taken her somewhere, but where? They had accused her making rain that day, though she hadn't. She'd been thinking about it, though. A wave somewhere around her brushed her senses, and a metallic click followed. A machine squeeked and beeped, then the door swung open. A woman walked in carrying a palm pilot, holding the pointer like a pencil.

"Hello!" She sounded different, like she was from Wales or Scotland or something like that. "I'm Susanne. Dunna look so afeared! I'm not gonna kill ya! Yet anyways." At this her eyes flashed, then they were blank again. "Con ya make lightnin', child?"

"No." Tess rasped, her voice like gravel.

"How old are ya?"

"No."

The woman's eyes turned again, staying that way this time. "Ya know what we do to people like you? When they dunna do summat for us, we turn on this little baby here-" she tapped the machine with the lenses over Tess's eyes "- and we zap a summat in your head. A memory, girl. Enow protestin', we got ourselves a deal from the garden to work with. What it does is sends a laser beam into you li'l brain and burns a nerve, one that has a memory path. Reckon ya'll listen?"

"Where am I?"

"You answer all my questions and I'll answer yours. Do we have a deal? Ok. Con you make lightning?"

"You know, I could talk a little better if I could breathe properly. Can I like get out of this contraption?"

The woman paused, considering. "You try to escape and I'll have your head, on _that_ machine, understood?"

Tess nodded as far as she could, and the woman entered a code on her 'palm pilot'. Obviously it was more than a palm pilot, though, because it certainly acted more like a remote to all these crazy machines. Tess tuned her hearing so she could only hear what was going on in the air around her, and she pinpointed the vicinity of Susanne's hands. She could hear the slight hiss of air as the woman's fingers met the keys, pushing all the air out of that space touching the keyboard. She counted five. Five times the woman pushed the buttons, and five times was all it would take to gain her freedom back. Tuning out the sounds of air molecules rushing, she discovered Susanne was speaking to her again.

"- and you are going to play the most important part of all." She didn't even want to know in what. The machine she was laying on gave an internal _click_ and her fetters pulled themselves off her and into their hiding places inside the table, the machine over her eyes swinging back into a recess of the wall. She hopped of the table and it tilted so it was flat again, and now it looked just like a doctors examination table. Tess hopped up and sat, crosslegged, in the middle of the table and popped her neck, followed by her knuckles and then she stretched. After all was said and done she leaned on her elbows and looked to Susanne.

"Ya dinna think I was going to let ya roam, did ya? Get back there on that table!"

Tess's countenence fell and she obliged, moving in the same position as she had been, crosslegged, on the clear glass table in the corner. The walls surrounding it were stainless steel like her former table, and on one there was drawn a crude outline of a man's torso, arms outstretched.

"Line up with the man."

Tess leaned up against the wall as told, and again tuned into the command Susanne gave her palm pilot. Five again. Same word? Probably not. All of the codes were five most likely. Something in the wall clicked and wrist bands appeared out of covered slots in the wall, encircling Tess's wrists so she was stuck with her arms outstretched like the sketch behind her.

"Smart." Tess snapped.

"Ok. Answer to your first question. You are in a room."

"Harr harr! What room?"

"This one."

"No use asking any questions to me, Lady. You aint getting no answers from me unless you answer mine and not twist them."

"You have to ask the right questions, my dear."

"Ok. Who were the people that kidnapped me and why did they bring me here?"

"That, my dear, is the right question. They were just our helpers-" She stopped, staring into Altessa's eyes. "You have very interesting eyes. I suppose that is part of your mutation?"

"My mutation?"

"Why yes- you know, the reason you can make rain and such."

"You're saying I'm a _mutant?_"

"Of course! You didn't know?"

"Well obviously not. Look lady, this is no x-men movie." She rolled her eyes. "So what color are they? My eyes?"

"They are- uh, black? No, purple. Dark purple."

"Oh." Tess grinned, thinking of her obvious secret. She was no mutant. She was a plain, normal girl who didn't like the color of her eyes so she wore contacts.

"Is it your real color?"

"Well...no. How'd you guess?"

"That grin on your face says something. Take off your contacts." Susanne released her hands and gave her a little container and a small handheld mirror. Tess obliged after a thunderous glare and took them off.

"Beautiful. Why do you cover them?"

"No one has purple eyes."

"Yes, I'm aware. But why?"

"That is the reason. No one has purple eyes."

Susanne's eyebrows scrunched. "Hmm. Well, in any case, put your arms back up."

She complied, again listening intently to Susanne's fingers on the keypad, hoping to catch a glimpse of what keys they were. She felt a cold finger on her chin, tilting her face up. There was a sudden flash in her face and Tess cried out, her eyes burning and stinging. They teared up and water fell like rivers, her eyes were all scrunched up. She shouted in an anguished voice, "What did you do to my eyes?"

"Simply took a photograph. We now have your iris map. Look at me now."

Tess opened her eyes a slit, her vision obscured by her tears and the huge black spots dancing, encircled in a yellowish glare this time. She could barely make out Susanne. She walked toward her and held a high tech camera in front of her eyes.

"No!" Tess shrieked, but before she could close them the camera flashed again. It didn't hurt as bad this time, just darkened the lightening black spots. Susanne turned and placed each individual cartridge in some machine, and it made a few loud clicks then displayed the first picture on a big white screen.

Tess blinked. And blinked again. "That's not me, is it?" The eyes in the picture were crystalline white/blue with no pupils, just a little white dot in the center. Susanne switched to the second picture, and there was astounding difference. Not only with the expression, but with the eye color. The eyes in the second photo were her normal safire blue, wide and almost blinking, tears streaking the little bit of skin you could see.

"Yes, that's you. I can't believe that you never knew you were a mutant."

"Well I knew I could do stuff, you know like make it rain and stuff, but I never knew my eyes changed. Probably no one noticed because I always wore contacts. So why am I here?"

"You refused to obey orders."

"America is a free country, you know. I don't have to listen to anyone if I don't want to."

"You accepted the contract!"

"I did! But, on that contract, there was no where it said that if I didn't obey I'd be taken by the dumb-ass ops."

"You signed your _name_!"

"Fuck you, bitch! It doesn't matter!" Tess spat in Susanne's face, which was only inches from her own. Tess watched in horror as Susanne's eyes flashed green, the pupil in the center narrowing out to a long vertical slit.

"Fuck yourself," Susanne hissed, her hospital-like attire changing itself to a lime-green vinyl like outfit, skintight pants and a belly jacket with a zipper up the front. Her arm flew back and flew forward, striking Tess in the temple. She saw nothing more.

Tess awoke to someone screaming for dear life, and it took her a moment to realize it was herself. She stopped, her voice hoarse. Her heart was pounding, for she clearly remember what had happened back in the 'room'. She looked around and saw that she was in a glass cubicle, no more than six feet long and five feet wide.Wow, now she knew was it was like to be in isolation in prison. She rose and paced, her heart rate ever climbing, panic ever so close, as she started to hyperventilate. She ran from one end of her cell to the other, pounding on the glass and screaming for someone to help, leaving smudges on the clean glass. She started from one end and high-kicked the wall on the other, only falling flat on her back for her efforts. She rose up to her knees, tears pouring down her cheeks and sobbing uncontrolably. Hands up, palms facing the ceiling, head bowed and eyes closed, Tess screamed. Her unkept tears fell black on her palms, mixing bittersweet with the makeup she used to hide her emotions.Floods ofit poured through her, floods she had kept dammed for most of her life, they poured through her with such intensity she almost passed out.

If she had been rational and thinking logically at the time, Tess would have noticed that she could see the sky through her glass ceiling, and she would have noticed the black storm clouds gathering over the institution. White lightning exploded in the thunderhead, giving an slight impression of a strobe light at a night party. She didn't notice anything, until the lightning struck.


	4. It All Falls Down

Disclaimer: I do not own My Ruin or their Brutal Language lyrics.

She didn't notice anything till the lightening struck. And when it struck, she knew. She looked up to see the streak across the sky, white hot and coming straight for her. She couldn't do anything, she was so shocked, because surely this had something to do with her. Right?

It came straight down towards her, and a deafening _boom_ was heard throughout the building. The power went out and sparks flew everywhere, and the emergency evacuate alarm was wailing throughout the building. It had hit the roof above her, and waves of electric heat were pulsing over her quarters. The lightening bolt pulsed and writhed, seeming to be somehow connected to the building she occupied. The throbbing heat raced along different carrying mediums until it reached her, flowing up through her feet and filling her with its power. She stared down at herself, for there was a glow emanating from her body. The lightening retreated back to where it had come, though the storm out was equally oppressive. It seemed to be waiting out for commands from...who?

She was still locked in her glass prison, however, which did represent a problem. She drew back her fist with iron determination and slammed it into the glass, streaks of electricity frissoning from her hand. She looked at it with appreciation and drew back again, determined she was going to free herself from her prison. She struck the glass for the second time, and the frissons of heat streaked out in the same paths, bolder this time. A split second after she hit it cracks showed in the glass, and she kept her hand there, letting the mini lightening streaks do their work. Suddenly the glass around her shattered and she found herself staring face to face with Susanne and a group of 'people' that looked like doctors. All their faces were completely aghast and some of them dropped their clipboards. One of them held a wicked looking syringe filled with about 20 cc's of orange liquid. Altessa fought to stifle her panic, because if she wasn't the only 'mutant' out there, and Susanne was one of them, who knew what the rest of them could do? She didn't even really know what Susanne did, just that she was able to change her clothes and her eyes went to slits...

Like a cup full of white hot liquid and pushed over the edge, Tess's rage spilled from her in the form of lightening, streaming from her hands and answering her call from the sky, raining down as a path was cleared for her to walk through them. She walked through them, unafraid, not thinking except for her need to get out of here...and rescue everyone else in the same predicament. As she passed them, she stared into each of their eyes as they each tried to get to her, but were pushed away by the invisible force field around her. She made her way back to the original place she had been taken to and collected her shoes, gloves and lip ring, which were sitting in evidence bags on a shelf.

Passing through the corridors she found there were countless rooms of glass like the one she had been in, each containing a mutant like herself, lamenting their defeat to a lost cause. All, however, were now joining forces to help in their escape. Euphoria entered her bloodstream and she welcomed the change. As she stepped into the hallway, she was greeted by over a hundred mutants cheering her on. After only a moment she walked to the first 'cell' and slammed her fist into it, her face a mass of twisted emotions all together.

Her fist kept contact with the glass as the little lines of electricity cracked the glass walls into millions of little sections, finally making it weak enough that the whole panel came crashing down.Tess continued with her task, wincing every time she punched the glass. Blood was soaking through her gloves from the ripped skin on her knuckles, but she kept on going. As each mutant was released, they used their abilities to help the others out and thus the chore was finished faster than if she had tackled it alone. Everyone was bound with close ties in a single emotion.

Rage. What is rage? Tess asked herself as she surveyed the damage, feeling like she was watching from a different location, like she could see herself staring at the ruined insides of the building. Rage? Rage was destruction. Rage was anything that made you do something you wouldn't under normal circumstances. Kept inside rage would tear you apart. Experience it, you'll never forget it.

It was kind of like the feeling of seeing your own blood running down your hands, turning the sink a deep crimson as it flowed. She remembered the reason she had done it; sexually abused as a child, she had fought to get over a phobia of intamacy. It had kept her from getting a boyfriend for many years, but she had tried several ways of getting over it before something actually worked. She thought that if she had intimacy, then maybe she'd get over the feeling of grossness and sickness, utter helplessness and humiliation. Her first kiss had been the straw that broke the camel's back, causing her to bleed herself in the sink to drain away the feelings she didn't know how to deal with.

One of the mutants tapped her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but we really should rally and get out of here. The mutants running this place are very strong, and I'm not even sure if all of us together could beat them at that. "

"Yeah, you're right." She cupped her hands aroung her mouth. "Everyone! Let's get out and destroy this building once and for all, and let's see if we can't destroy the creatures that ran this place too! Let's hurry!"

Everyone nodded or murmered some sort of agreement and made their way outside. The rain had subsided, but it looked as if the heavens were waiting to explode. As soon as they knew they were all outside, Tess thought a moment.

"Are there any... pyrokinetics here?" She asked. One young girl stepped forward, looking like she'd seen the worst in life. "Can you help me get rid of this building?" Tess asked the girl.

"Yeah."

"Ok. On the count of three, ok? One, two..."

"Stop!"

"What?"

"Have you seen x-men?"

Tess wrinkled her brow."Yeah, why?"

"You know Pyro? He had to have fire to use-it had to be there already. I'm like that. You got a lighter on you?"

Dumbstruck, Tess felt her pockets then turned to the desert-like terrain surrounding her. She walked up to a sage bush and grabbed it, enough electricity flowing through her into it that it snapped once then a small flame appeared on a branch of the bush. "Will that work?" She asked.

The girl smirked. "Bad ass, yo."

"Ready? One, two, _three_!" On three, Tess spread her hands and looked to the sky, bidding the lightening to do her will. The Pyro Girl also spread her hands, the flames dancing in her palms spreading in wide arcs to the bases of the building.

In about thirty seconds, the whole building was flat and burning still. As they surveyed their path of destruction on something worthy of it, a metal song by My Ruin lilted through Tess's mind as she stored the tune and bound it with the memory that would never leave.

_I watch the buzzards gather_

_But no one's dead today_

_Like sheep they follow after_

_And promise not to stray_

_Her darling little bastards_

_Scarred with elitest black_

_But I know when I star her_

_It won't be in her back_

_I'm spilling open_

_Inside my house of leaves_

_It doesn't matter what's been said_

_It's what my heart believes_

_It seems the hive is buzzing_

_The bees protect their queen_

_While snakes with poison venom_

_Appear upon the scene_

_So ugly in their hatred_

_God bless the maybeline_

_So arrogant that when she cuts_

_It's done for all to see_

_I'm spilling open_

_Inside my house of leaves_

_It doesn't matter what been said_

_It's what my heart believes_

_I'm spilling open_

_It's killing all of me_

_And I hate what I've become_

_From what's been done to me_

_Homecomeing queens are pretty from being dressed in pink_

_But perfume can't diguise a pig and I can smell her stink_

_Miss Anne Thropy once sang to me with words that tasted sweet_

_But now the slaughter house has turned her voice to meat_

_Not everybody's everything they ever claim to be_

_Not everything is black and white, friend or enemy_

_I guess it really doesn't matter when there's nothing left_

_Sometimes you gotta let it go and just ENJOY THE DEATH._


End file.
